The Singularity Is Near

book by Raymond Kurzweil

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (2005) is a book about artificial intelligence (AI) by Ray Kurzweil. He describes his law of accelerating returns. This predicts an exponential increase in the power of such technologies as computers, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and AI.

The author thinks this means machine intelligence will become more advanced than biological intelligence. Cyborg intelligence ends up being dominant. The book also predicts that when the "technological singularity" comes, humans may merge with machines and become androids or cyborgs.

It is not the first time this idea has been suggested. It has a long history in science fiction, and has been presented in several films, such as 2001.

Reviews of the book were mixed.